


En Rapport

by Selvanic



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Developing Friendships, Gen, Spoilers, au thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-02 03:15:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13309278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selvanic/pseuds/Selvanic
Summary: If things had worked out differently, would the Phantom Thieves have made friends with Goro Akechi? And if so, what would those friendships look like? How hard would it be for each of them? A speculative AU in which each of the Thieves gets their chance at some one-on-one time.





	1. Ann Takamaki

**Author's Note:**

> All of these have been inspired by conversations I've had with my partner and other lovely people within the fandom (primarily through Twitter). 
> 
> I'm not quite sure how this AU would work out logistically, but for the sake of clarity, Goro survived, didn't necessarily fight alongside the Thieves in the final two battles, and is trying his best to connect with them at their insistence. 
> 
> None of the interactions here are meant to be seen as romantic, but if you choose to read them that way, all the power to you. The more love Goro gets, the happier I am for him, honestly.

Ann Takamaki was the last person he expected to take the seat next to his. Despite everything, Goro was still struggling with the idea that the Phantom Thieves— _other_ Phantom Thieves: they kept insisting on his inclusion—wanted anything to do with him, particularly as none of them seemed to know _what_ to do with him. But Ann had dropped herself onto the stool next to his with relatively little hesitation and was staring intently at the side of his head.

 

“Is there something on my face?” he ventured, trying to keep the edge out of his voice.

 

“No,” Ann replied almost defensively, “I just wanted to ask you something.”

 

Goro sighed and set his coffee cup down before shifting his weight to face the girl properly. “What is it?”

 

Her bright eyes held his dubious ones for an almost uncomfortable moment before she said quickly, “Will you be my plus one for my upcoming fashion event?”

 

Genuinely surprised by her request, Goro opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before turning to his coffee for an excuse not to answer right away. He needed more information.

 

“Why me?”

 

At this, Ann flushed slightly and no longer met his gaze. “Well…”

 

The detective huffed and shook his head, shifting his weight to sit in his usual position. “The others were too busy, hm? In that case I suppose I am—“

 

“No!” The girl reached out and tugged on his sleeve, a look of both hurt and embarrassment in her astonishingly honest eyes. “It’s not that! It’s just…” She took a deep breath and dove quickly into her explanation. “The last time I brought Akira, I spent most of the night trying to keep people from trying to sign _him_ instead of ‘networking’ like I was supposed to; when I brought Ryuji, he almost picked a fight with one of the—admittedly, sleazy—photographers, and we had to leave early and my manager got kinda mad at me; and when I brought Yusuke, I almost lost him. Literally. It was a stressful night…”

 

Goro arched an eyebrow, but couldn’t help but concede her points. “What about Haru or Makoto? I’m sure they’d love to help you out.”

 

Ann shook her head again, leaning forward as her tone got more desperate. “Haru’s worried that her presence will distract from me being there and will draw too much of the wrong attention, and Makoto’s too nervous and doesn’t want me to have to explain why my plus one was a girl, even though I don’t think it’s anybody’s business, but I don’t want to make her uncomfortable so—“

 

Goro held up a hand to slow the girl down. “Alright. I think I understand now. And Futaba’s social anxiety rules her out entirely.”

 

“Exactly!” Ann nodded enthusiastically, reaching out and taking the detective’s hands in her own. “ _Please_ , Goro, I don’t want to go alone! Last time I did some of the guys there got really gross, and you’re a police officer and you have experience with these kinds of things, so you’d make the perfect plus one. Plea~se?”

 

Flushing despite himself, Goro turned his eyes away and gently tugged his hands free of the model’s grasp, clearing his throat as he did. “F-Fine. I suppose it’s the least I can do, all things considered…”

 

Ann cheered briefly and hugged the startled detective. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She stepped back, beaming with relief. “I’ll text you the date and address, ok?”

 

“Sure…” Goro awkwardly adjusted his rumpled jacket and smiled as best he could. “I’ll see you there, then.” While he wasn’t sure why he’d agreed so readily, there was something about the look in her eyes, the genuine gratitude and excitement that made him happy he had. He’d never had anyone look at him like that before.

 

On the night of the event itself, he had a much better understanding of why she’d been so happy.

 

The vast majority of other partygoers were either notably older industry professionals or other models that saw her as a ‘rival’ of some sort, and, as a result, didn’t seem keen on socializing. In a crowd of near hundreds, Ann would have been completely alone unless she was convenient to talk to, a kind of isolation he was all too familiar with. And when he listened to her talk to the photographers, designers, and other magazine owners, he couldn’t help but overhear the same undertone of tired frustration in her voice that he so often struggled to quash while being interviewed on television. The forced pleasantries, the rehearsed and regurgitated lines, the laughing and smiling to appease the adults in the room…He hadn’t thought any of the Phantom Thieves would understand what that felt like. Yet here was, seeing arguably, one of the gentlest, most honest, members pinned under that same spotlight that he both desperately craved and detested.

 

“How are you doing?” he asked over the noise of the music when the two had a moment to themselves.

 

The blond sighed but smiled. “Not bad. Better since I’ve got a friend with me.” She nudged him with her elbow. “How about you? How’s this compare to your TV parties?”

 

Goro chuckled dryly, eyes scanning the crowd for a moment. “I didn’t get invited to many of those, but the ones I did attend were startlingly similar.” He looked at Ann out of the corner of his eye. “Though the attendees were far less attractive on average.”

 

Ann laughed, but before she could respond a rather heavyset man in a flashy suit interrupted their conversation.

 

“Ann-chan!” The man’s tone was irritatingly familiar, and it set Goro’s teeth on edge, but the detective held his tongue and watched Ann for signals. “That dress looks amazing on you! It really shows off how well you’ve matured.”

 

The girl did her best not to visibly wince, but Goro noticed the twinge in the set of her shoulders. Still, she replied pleasantly, laughing his comment off as best she could. “Thank you, Himura-san. It was a gift from my last shoot.”

 

“Speaking of shoots…” The man wasted no time once he saw his opening. “Did you get that request I sent along to your manager?”

 

Ann shook her head after a brief moment of thought. “I haven’t heard anything about working with you again. The last time my manager mentioned you, he said you were focused on a more…” She hesitated, shifting her weight in a way that Goro took to indicate discomfort. “…Well, a more _mature_ audience.”

 

Himura clearly couldn’t take a hint. “Exactly! When I saw your last swimsuit edition, I knew you were ready for some more big time stuff. So I sent him a request to have you model for some of my clients. He really didn’t tell you?”

 

Laughing nervously, Ann took half a step backward as she parsed her reply carefully. “No, but I'm sure it’s just because we’ve been busy. You know…with me still being in school and all…”

 

“Well, I’ve got you here now,” the photographer pressed, “so why don’t we work something out between the two of us? Without your manager involved, more of the profit could make its way straight to you.”

 

Goro had heard and seen enough. Clearing his throat and taking half a step forward to position himself between Ann and Himura, he smiled as pleasantly as he could. “Sorry to interrupt, but I can’t help but wonder something, as Miss Takamaki’s friend, of course.” He held the older man’s frustrated stare with his own challenging one, smiling all the while. “You wouldn’t happen to be asking her to do something that would violate her rights as a _minor_ , would you? And behind the back of the adult who has signed to take responsibility for her modelling contracts? Because that seems like a terribly risky move that could cost you a great deal of business if the right people found out about it.”

 

The man snarled, lip curled in disgust, and looked the detective over critically. In a moment, however, there was a light of recognition in his eyes. “You’re that Detective Prince kid.” He all but spat the title. “How much clout do you actually have with the cops after that Phantom Thieves folderol?”

 

Goro’s smile felt like it was strained glass by this point, but he refused to budge. “Would you care to find out?” He laughed hollowly when the photographer puffed up defensively. “Now, now,” the young man reassured, “No need to get like that. I’m hardly threatening you. I’m just asking out of professional curiosity.”

 

Himura blustered for a moment before levelling a withering glare at both the detective and the model. “You should teach your dates better manners, Ann-chan,” the man bit out through clenched teeth. “Washed-up idol or not, he’ll get you in trouble if he keeps up like that.”

 

Ann huffed and shouldered in to stand next to Goro, standing at her full, high heel enhanced height. “I’ll have you know that everyone here has adored him, thank you very much. _And_ —“ She raised her hand pointedly, staring the man down confidently. “—he has _far_ better manners than you, Himura-san. I could get you blacklisted for trying to go behind my manager’s back like that.”

 

Sputtering while his face flushed an indignant red, the photographer muttered disparagingly before turning on his heel and stalking back off into the crowd. It didn’t take long before he found another model, this time standing by herself, to start talking up.

 

“Ugh, what a creep.” Ann shuddered and grabbed a passing glass of water, drinking it quickly. “I can’t believe he still gets invited to these things.” She looked at the detective and smiled gently. “Thanks for the help, though. I appreciate having the backup.”

 

Goro blushed faintly and shook his head, suddenly embarrassed over his silly show of bravado. “It wasn’t like you necessarily needed my help; I’m sure you could have handled that on your own.”

 

“Well yeah,” the girl laughed, clapping Goro on the shoulder amiably. “But it’s nice to know that my friend’s got my back.”

 

“…Your…friend?”

 

Ann rolled her eyes and hit the young man harder, though still not hard enough to leave more than a stinging sensation in its wake. “Don’t start that with me, Goro. You know we’re friends. Or you ought to by now.” She winked playfully. “And here I thought you were a big scary detective who noticed even the subtlest of clues.”

 

Goro dropped his façade for a moment and puffed up like an insulted bird, eliciting another laugh from the blond. He couldn’t even stay ‘mad’ at her; she was right. He’d been deliberately ignorant of her attempts to reach out to him, afraid she’d be like everyone else. But she and the other Phantom Thieves had genuinely seen him at his worst, his lowest, his most despicable, and they still insisted on being around him. Ann, especially, had reached out first, and seemed to be the one putting in the most effort to connect with him. For a moment, he felt ashamed of his intentional blind spots and wasn’t sure what to say. An apology seemed most appropriate.

 

“Takamaki-san, I’m—“

 

“Unless you’re about to say ‘hungry and tired’, I don’t want to hear it.” Ann huffed and met Goro’s surprise with an encouraging smile. “I get it, Goro. You need to stop saying it and start doing something about it. And,” she poked him in the chest, “call me ‘Ann’, ok?”

 

Goro stared at her for a moment before a small, genuine, smile tugged at his mouth. “Ann,” he started with a small flourished hand gesture, “I believe I _am_ hungry and tired. Why don’t you and I leave and find somewhere better to spend our evening?”

 

Ann took his arm and beamed. “Lead the way, Goro. I hear you know your way around the Tokyo restaurant scene, and I could _kill_ for a good piece of cake right now.”

 

The young man laughed, feeling oddly lighter with the model on his arm, as if she’d lifted a weight off of his chest that he’d been carrying all night long as he’d played his role as the ‘proper date’ and the ‘almost washed up Detective Prince’. He hadn’t expected to find someone within the Phantom Thieves who could understand this part of him, this aspect of the Hell he’d lived through, but here she was. And she’d come out of it much brighter and livelier than he ever could have, and was still willing to wait for him.


	2. Haru Okumura

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While each chapter is a stand-alone piece, I am including some continuity throughout. So from chapter to chapter, there will be references to relationships established in previous chapters.

It was one of the rare days that Goro had to himself, and he’d chosen to spend most of it holed up in his apartment. He’d been trying to spend more time ‘socializing’, but it was harder than he’d first expected and being actively ‘honest’ was exhausting. He’d explained to the group chat that he would be bowing out from any planned activities, had received the expected amount of pleasant ‘boohooing’, and then had muted his phone. He refused to let Ann or Akira successfully guilt him into yet another group outing that would be ‘good for him’.

 

So when there came a soft knock on his door, he wasn’t sure what to expect, though he certainly didn’t anticipate a bashful looking Haru Okumura.

 

“I’m sorry to turn up unannounced like this, Goro,” the young woman apologized in her usual soft tones, “But I tried to contact you and you didn’t respond. I thought it might just be easier for me to come by. I was a little worried something might have happened as well.”

 

The detective cast a brief backward glance at his phone where he’d left it on his desk. He was still getting used to the idea of people contacting him for something besides work at all, and it hadn’t occurred to him to actually check it once he’d decided to mute it for the day.

 

Looking back at Haru, he offered her his best apologetic smile. “I’m sorry if I made you worry, Okumura-sa—uh…Haru. I just have my phone silenced right now.”

 

The girl shook her head and met his smile with a bright one of her own. “Oh, it’s no worry at all. I’m just glad you’re alright.”

 

There was a pause then, a silence filled only with her awkward fidgeting and the other noises of the apartment complex.

 

“So did you—“

 

“I was just wondering—“

 

There was another pause as the two fumbled not to talk over one another, uttering apologies and insistences that the other go first and only making things more uncomfortable. Finally, Haru put her foot down and stared directly into Goro’s eyes.   


“Can I spend the day with you, Goro?”

 

Goro stared for a moment before sighing, running a hand through his hair and looking away from the girl in front of him. “Well…I _had_ planned on spending the day on my own…”

 

Haru raised her hands and shook her head, a faint flush on her cheeks. “Oh, Goro, please don’t think I didn’t read your message! I did! It’s just that things at the company have gotten a little…uncomfortable lately, and the board members know I spend time at Le Blanc, and I don’t want to keep dragging Akira and Futaba-chan into my work life.” She covered her mouth for a moment and shook her head. “N-Not that I’m saying I want to drag _you_ into it or anything! It’s just that Ann-chan said you have a nice apartment, and that it’s quiet, and that no one thought to look for her here…”

 

The young woman trailed off, staring at the floor and smiling sadly. “I’m sorry. This must sound pretty pathetic to you, huh?”

 

Goro’s gut response was to get defensive and angry, to tell her off and ask her to leave. But he was trying to unlearn those responses that years of rejection had programmed into him. If he were in Haru’s position…No, he couldn’t even imagine it. He couldn’t fathom ever being strong enough to admit this kind of weakness and discomfort.

 

“I knew having Ann over was going to lead to trouble eventually,” he sighed, stepping back out of the doorway. He gestured for Haru to come inside. “Make yourself comfortable. I don’t have much, and I’m not used to hosting guests, but I’ll do my best.”

 

Haru looked honestly surprised for a moment before bowing gratefully and hurrying into the apartment. “Thank you so much, Goro! I promise not to make a nuisance of myself.”

 

He watched her as she daintily stepped out of her shoes, setting them aside so as not to be in anyone’s way. She wandered around quietly, taking in the minimalistic décor and occasionally admiring a book on a shelf or his table. He was sure his apartment of bare minimums wasn’t up to her usual refined or lavish tastes, but he wasn’t going to apologize for it. After everything, he was just glad he could still afford to have it.

 

She paused in his small kitchen, turning to look at him for the first time in several minutes. “It’s very you,” she offered with a smile.

 

Goro arched an eyebrow and glanced around his apartment. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

 

“Well,” she took one more look before leaning one hand on his kitchen counter, “For one thing, it’s very clean and very well-kept. Everything has its place, and you clearly put the effort in to organizing it all. The same way you seem to like to organize yourself.”

 

The detective wrinkled his nose at the suggestion, but couldn’t deny it.

 

The young woman continued. “I also noticed you don’t have any extraneous decorations or anything. Everything in your apartment serves a purpose. You don’t like surrounding yourself with things you can’t see any use in.” At this, Haru laughed softly, almost sadly, and brushed some of her hair out of her face. “It kind of reminds me of my father’s office.”

 

The mention of her father hit Goro like a lead weight, nearly knocking the wind out of him. No matter how much tried, there was no forgetting that, no forgetting what he’d done, no taking it back and no amount of apologizing that would ever make up for it. He’d pulled the trigger. And he’d even had the gall to frame the girl and her friends for what he’d done, if only in the public eye.

He made to say something, anything, but the words died on his lips and left a bitter taste in his mouth. What _could_ he say? ‘Sorry’ wouldn’t bring her father back, wouldn’t alleviate the pressure she found herself under because of him. The only reason she was standing in his kitchen now was because she was running from those responsibilities his actions had unceremoniously dumped on her.

 

In the end, he was still the monster who’d tried to ruin them all and kill their leader.

 

A startling but gentle tug on his hand forced him out of his head. Somehow, Haru had crossed the distance between them without his noticing and had taken hold of his hand, her eyes fixed firmly on his. When she saw that he was present again, she smiled, ever so gently tightening her hold.

 

“I know that look, Goro,” she said softly, “I see it in my own eyes sometimes too. But we can’t keep hurting ourselves for things we did or didn’t do. Those things are in the past now, and no matter what they were, or how bad they were, we can’t change them.”

 

She looked away then, losing herself in some memory of her own. “I can’t say I’ll ever forgive you for what you did to my father. I miss him so much some days. But…I know that it wasn’t entirely your fault. Nothing is ever that simple. And I know that being mad at you isn’t going to bring him back.” Haru took a deep breath, smiling brighter than she ought to have, and held his startled eyes with her slowly watering ones. “What’s done is done, Goro. And I’m just so glad we didn’t have to lose anybody else.”

 

Goro felt embarrassed, sick to his stomach, confused, conflicted, angry, and miserable all at once. He didn’t deserve this. He hadn’t done anything to deserve this. By all accounts, Haru had every right to despise him, to wish he’d never come out of that Palace alive. Yet here she was, trying to comfort _him_. Trying to make _him_ feel better. Everything he could have thought to say tangled up in his mind and withered, leaving him standing there useless and speechless.

 

She hugged him then, tentatively at first, but when he shifted awkwardly to accommodate her she tightened her hold. She was small and warm and soft, her hair smelled like flowers, and her hands were locked so firmly in his shirt he wasn’t sure he’d ever get her to let go. But the contact, as surprisingly welcome as it was, was woefully brief, and Haru quickly stepped back and wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve.

 

“I-I’m sorry,” she stammered, “I don't know what came over me. You just looked so sad, and I felt so awful for us both…”

 

Goro shook his head, swallowing the thick knot in his throat and managing a shaky smile for her benefit, though the hints of genuine emotion couldn’t be helped. “No I…I think I needed that. Thank you, Haru. No one’s…” He paused, flushing awkwardly and looking away. “No one’s ever held me like that, that I can remember.”

 

Haru stared at the young man in shock for a moment before stepping in close once more, hands balled into resolute fists in front of her. “You should have said something sooner! I thought Ann-chan would have hugged you plenty by now!” She shook her head and stomped her foot. “From now on, I’m going to be your hug buddy, ok? If you ever need a hug, you just ask me.”

 

Goro blanked, unsure of how to respond to her adamant but ridiculous assertion. He stared at her as if she’d grown a third arm, a faint heat creeping up under his collar as he floundered for a response.

 

Ann had said and done some strange and embarrassing things since they’d started spending more time together, and physical contact had always been minimal but friendly between them: the occasional nudge when one of them said something stupid, a desperate hand grab when they watched scary movies, or even a surprisingly firm slap on the back when he made her laugh. But Ann had clearly been wary of pushing him too far outside of his comfort zone.

 

The determination in Haru’s eyes, however, displayed no such hesitation. She meant every word she’d said.

 

He felt like he had no choice but to concede. “A-Alright,” he finally managed, “I guess I can do that.”

 

“Good!” Haru clapped her hands together happily, smiling that radiantly bright and gentle smile once more. “Now, I think that’s enough heavy stuff for one day, don’t you? I came over here to relax with a friend—if he’d have me—so I think it’s about time we relaxed.”

 

Goro shook himself out of his flustered state of shock as best he could and looked around his kitchen. “I really don’t have that much, unfortunately. Though I think I may have some ice cream left over from the last time Ann was over.”

 

“Excellent,” the young woman beamed, “and I brought some tea with me. So if you’ll kindly provide a kettle, I think we can pass a lovely afternoon together.”

 

While ice cream and tea weren’t two things he generally considered consuming together, the detective did his best to accommodate his guest, finding his electric kettle and small teapot and setting both on the counter. As Haru went to work preparing the beverage, he found the two small bowls he’d purchased to help Ann ‘portion control’ and retrieved the remains of their last cheesecake ice cream binge.

 

“I suppose we’ll start with these then.” Goro handed Haru the bowl of dessert and a spoon and leaned on the counter to enjoy his own. He couldn’t help but notice the girl staring at him though. “Is something wrong? I might have a chocolate flavour if you’d prefer that.”

 

Haru shook her head and laughed, gesturing to the way Goro was standing. “Are you just going to eat it here then?” she asked, “just standing in your kitchen like that?”

 

Feeling that damnable embarrassment again, Goro quickly stood up straight again and postured almost defensively. “Why? What’s wrong with that?”

 

“Nothing!” The young woman could barely get the word out past her giggling. “It’s just…This is the most casual I’ve ever seen you. It’s kind of cute.”

 

The heat that had been making its way up his chest finally found its way into his face and Goro sputtered uselessly for a moment, trying to find a way to defend himself. But what could he say? That he was somehow comfortable around her? That he felt the least he owed her was some modicum of honesty and vulnerability? Or that he just hadn’t thought about it, and that it had only seemed natural?

 

Whatever he could have said didn’t seem suitable, however, and he kept himself from making a bigger fool of himself by sticking a spoonful of ice cream defiantly in his mouth. Haru continued to laugh, though she soon started in on her own share of the dessert, moving to lean on the counter next to him. It was oddly intimate but comfortable. And when the kettle began to whistle, he almost resented having to move away from her.


	3. Ryuji Sakamoto

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now for boys at the gym. I've never actually written for Ryuji before, so apologies in advance.

Goro let go and let himself fall the last few feet back to the mat, wiping the sweat off his brow and taking a moment to catch his breath. With the Metaverse gone and more people asking for his time, he was finding it harder and harder to keep up with his usual exercise routine. He still used his bike to get to and from the station if the weather allowed, and his newfound social circle often wanted to go traipsing about Tokyo, but he was also eating more, sleeping more, and relaxing more, and as a result, had gained a pound or two.

 

Ann insisted it was good for him; Haru swore she couldn’t notice a difference at all; Akira just smiled that infuriating smile at him. And while he knew they all meant well, he refused to let it lie. If nothing else, he was going to get back into bouldering regularly.

 

Taking a deep drink of his water bottle and stretching out, he braced himself for another go when someone grabbed him firmly by the shoulder. The detective turned quickly, ready to either injure or scathingly ‘correct’ whomever it was.

 

“Hey dude!” Ryuji Sakamoto grinned broadly back at him, dressed in what looked like rental gym clothes and sweating more than Goro was. “Didn’t think I’d run into you here!”

 

Goro did nothing to hide his effort to shrug the blond’s grip off, and was surprised when the other boy just let go without a fuss. “And I didn’t know you went to this gym, Sakamoto. Isn’t it a little out of the way for you?”

 

Ryuji chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, yeah, but there’s a shop out here my mom really likes, and it was her birthday last week so I got her a gift card, but she was working so we couldn’t make it until today. And I was shopping with her for a while, but she gave me this look and said, ‘Ryuji, I know you hate shopping, so why don’t you go find something fun to do and we’ll catch up with each other later’, and I was all, ‘Are you sure?’, and she insisted, so…I’m here.”

 

Goro looked the other boy over critically and arched an eyebrow. “Really? You chose to go to a gym instead of sticking it out with your mother?”

 

Smiling sheepishly, Ryuji glanced over his shoulder, as if his mother would appear there any moment. “To be honest with you, I’m pretty sure she wants to get me something, and she sent me off so I wouldn’t see it.” He laughed and shook his head. “Can you believe that? She’s gonna get _me_ a gift with the present I gave _her_. She’s always like that though.” He sighed, leaning back on his heels for a moment. “And besides, the gym was the closest thing to the store that I wanted to do, so I’m not more than a block away from her.”

 

Genuinely surprised by the blond’s apparent insight and thoughtfulness, Goro had to take a moment to think. He’d always seen the other boy as the loud, obnoxious, headstrong one that acted before thinking. He was also fairly certain that, of all of the Phantom Thieves, Ryuji liked him the least. After all, the boy hadn’t been shy about expressing his distaste and distrust when Goro had first approached them, as reasonable those feelings had been.

 

“Well,” the detective finally started, “none of that really explains why you came over to talk to me.”

 

Ryuji looked shocked for a moment, as if Goro had physically reached out and slapped him in the face. “I saw my friend at the gym,” the boy answered slowly, like it should have been obvious, “so I came over to say ‘hi’.”

 

Goro narrowed his eyes again, tilting his head questioningly. “Really? It wasn’t just because you were getting bored and wanted to do something besides mindless exercise that otherwise left you to worry about your mother?”

 

Ryuji laughed and punched Goro good-naturedly in the arm, though the latter took half a step back and rubbed the victimized area. “Nah, man,” the blond insisted, “When I exercise, I get in this head space and I’m not thinking about anything but doing my best. Really committing to it, you know. I think it’s a left over thing from my days in track.” He shook a moment of melancholy off and grinned at the still suspicious detective. “C’mon, dude, you have to lighten up. You can’t keep actin’ like everyone’s out to get you.”

 

Sighing softly, Goro shook his head and raked a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his face. “You’ll forgive me for being dubious, Sakamoto, but if I recall, you weren’t my biggest fan.”

 

“Well you were kind of a dick.” Ryuji shrugged, the statement made so bluntly it almost embarrassed Goro to hear it. “But we all change, right? And I think I made my stance on the whole thing pretty clear.” At this he paused, a faint colour coming into his cheeks that wasn’t from exertion. “You’re a pretty impressive guy, and you were screwed over a lot. I get that you probably had to be a dick just to get by. Without my friends…I probably wouldn’t have been much better. Just some angry punk and no way to get it out…”

 

Goro couldn’t help the bitterness that rose in his mouth, the knot of jealousy that twisted in his stomach. This boy had more than just friends; he still had his mother, someone who looked after him and cared for him. How could he possibly compare the two of them?

 

“While that’s very kind of you, Sakamoto,” the older boy bit out, frustrated with his inability to mask his clipped tone, “You really don’t have to put yourself out for me. After everything I did, I hardly—“

 

“Bet I could climb this thing faster than you.”

 

For a moment, Goro wasn’t sure he’d heard right. Had he missed something? Had Ryuji just stopped listening to him? He stared at the blond for a long moment, and saw, loud and clear, a challenge in the other’s warm brown eyes. And it went beyond just the climbing: Ryuji was challenging him to finish what he’d started saying.

 

But the words stuck in Goro’s throat, and, instead, the detective puffed up proudly. “I highly doubt that, Sakamoto. I’ve been doing this for years, and this particular wall isn’t that difficult.”

 

Moving to strap himself into a harness, Ryuji huffed and nodded at the wall. “Then let’s go. Put your money where your mouth is.”

 

Before he could fully process how ridiculous the entirety of the situation was, Goro was back on the wall, glancing between his next grip and Ryuji’s progress. For someone who, presumably, hadn’t done this kind of thing before, the boy was surprisingly strong, and was making impressive time, despite having climbed himself into several less than ideal positions.

 

After several minutes of intense silence, filled mostly by the sounds of the gym around them, Ryuji called out, “Hey! We goin’ to the top and then down again?”

 

Goro huffed, bracing himself and looking over at the other. “I’d assume so. Though I’ll stipulate that you have to _climb_ down, not just drop.”

 

Ryuji laughed. “Ah, shit. How’d you know my secret strategy?”

 

Rolling his eyes, Goro shifted his weight enough to tug on the harness. “This would slow you down substantially anyway. It wouldn’t be that much of an advantage.”

 

“Right…” Shaking his head and adjusting his feet, Ryuji looked up and nodded. “Well, I’m gonna beat you anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.”

 

Goro flushed indignantly and made to say something when he realized his ‘competition’ had started climbing again. The boldness with which Ryuji just _said_ things was starting to throw him off. He’d never really dealt with anyone quite so blunt before. Still, he was hardly going to let that be his downfall; not here, where he was supposed to have the advantage.

 

The detective re-doubled his efforts, pushing himself harder than he had in a while. His hands began to ache, and he could feel the sweat building on his back, but he focused all of his energy on reaching the top. He didn't even bother to check on the other anymore; whatever progress Ryuji had made was no one’s business but Ryuji’s.

 

When his fingers grazed the ceiling, he felt himself smile proudly, nodding to himself before starting on his way back down. He always found the descent harder than the ascent; it required more thought and sure footing, and looking down sometimes made his head spin. But he could hear Ryuji not more than ten feet away from him moving quickly and grunting with his efforts; he couldn’t afford to slow down now.

 

His vanity was once again his downfall. As he made an effort to save time and take a step down to where he’d been fairly certain there was a foothold, Goro slipped and scrabbled to regain his hold. But it was too late. His hands were too sweaty and the fall happened too quickly. He braced himself for the sudden jerk of the harness supporting his weight, but what he felt instead was a pair of hands on his back.

 

“You alright, Goro?” Ryuji was panting; each syllable of the simple question sounded like it took an immense amount of effort to say.

 

The detective sputtered, shaking his head as things started to make sense. He’d been closer to the ground than he’d thought, leading to his misunderstanding of where the foothold was supposed to be. And when he’d fallen, there really hadn’t been more than five feet between his feet and the ground. And Ryuji had seen it all, had already been on the ground, and had moved to catch him before the harness could.

 

“S-Sakamoto,” Goro panted softly, shifting enough to take over supporting his own weight once more. “Why…You beat me.”

 

“Not by much.” The blond shook his head, stepping out of the way as the older boy got settled on the ground properly again. “You shoulda seen yourself, dude. You were really giving it everything you had.”

 

Wiping the sweat out of face and all but draining what remained in his water bottle, Goro let out a deep breath and tried to bring his adrenaline back down. “It still wasn’t enough though. Even at everything I had…”

 

“Hey,” Ryuji huffed, grabbing the other boy’s shoulder and forcing eye contact, “You did your best, right? And, honestly, that was, what? Your third time climbing this thing today? Your arms must be killin’ you.”

 

Goro shook his head, refusing to accept excuses or consolations. “You won fair and square, Sakamoto. You don’t need to make excuses for me.”

 

“And you don’t need to keep takin’ yourself down.” Ryuji puffed up like a defensive animal. “You did this back then too, y’know. Got all down on yourself for losing when it was all of us against you. You gotta stop doin’ that.” The blond shook his head, offering an awkward but supportive smile. “You’re not alone anymore, dude. And you gotta learn to admit when you’ve put yourself at a disadvantage. Stop tellin’ yourself you screwed up when maybe somethin’ else screwed you over.”

 

Wrinkling his nose, Goro batted Ryuji’s hand away gently and shook his head. “That may have been the case _then_ , but this time…” He looked up and refused to admit he was maybe pouting, telling himself it was more of a disgruntled frown for having lost. “This time, I should have had every advantage. You’ve never done this before and I’ve—“

 

“When did I say that?”

 

Goro paused. “What?”

 

Ryuji grinned broadly, hands planted proudly on his hips. “I never said I hadn’t done this before. You just assumed that.” In the face of the detective’s continued confusion, the blond kept talking. “I used to love climbing things when I was a kid, so my mom used to take me to places like this to keep me outta trees and things. I don’t do it as often as you do, sure, but I’ve done it before.”

 

Goro sputtered and shook his head, feeling like he’d had the wind knocked out of him.

 

Ryuji laughed and threw his arm around the older boy’s shoulders, pulling him into an awkward by friendly half-embrace. “See, dude? Sometimes there’s other shit going on that you don’t know about. So stop bein’ so hard on yourself.” He looked back and up at the wall. “It’s not like I had an easy time either. I really had to push myself just to beat you by the bit I did.”

 

At that, the younger boy looked up at the clock on the wall and cursed under his breath. “Ah crap! My mom’s gonna be done shopping soon and I still gotta shower!” He looked at Goro and smiled that absurdly carefree and brilliant smile. “Hey, wanna come with us? We’re gonna go grab some lunch or something.”

 

“I wouldn’t want to interrupt,” Goro managed to say, still trying to wrap his head around what Ryuji had told him. “You’re celebrating her birthday, aren’t you?”

 

“Well, yeah. And if she hears I ditched one of my friends without insisting they come along too, I’ll never hear the end of it.” He pulled on Goro’s arm, grinning all the while. “And I don’t think you’ve got it in you for another go at that wall.”

 

Goro flushed and tugged himself free of Ryuji’s grip, doing his best to compose himself once more. This loud-mouthed, brash, blunt, tactless, under-achiever who ran his mouth off without thinking…was right. And had said things Goro hadn’t known he’d needed to hear.

 

“Fine,” the detective conceded. “But just this once, and only if she will let me pay for lunch. She can consider it my present to her.”

 

Ryuji made a face and shrugged. “You can try, dude, but I promise you she’ll never let you get your wallet out of your pocket.”


	4. Makoto Niijima

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Writing for Makoto was difficult for me, but I really wanted to see their relationship, their competitive natures, and their shared relationship with Sae explored more in the game. Especially with the artbook's mention that there had been talk once of Goro and Makoto being siblings.

It was not the first time Goro had gone through Sae’s things before, but it was the first time he’d done so with a relatively well-meaning intention. The lawyer sat next to him in the car, hands covering her face as she focused primarily on breathing while still somehow finding time to gripe at him for interfering in her work. As he found her license, and subsequently her address, he input it into the car’s GPS and set about buckling himself in.

 

“I told you,” Sae grumbled next to him, moving one hand enough to glare daggers into the side of the young man’s head, “I’m fine. I just need some air.”

 

Goro smiled serenely as he navigated the car out of the building’s underground parking lot. “And you’ll get plenty if you choose to roll down the window while I drive you home, Sae-san.”

 

Had the woman been in any better condition, the look she sent him would have made him think twice about his actions. As it was, he simply turned his attention to the task of following the series of simple directions needed to get from the office to Sae’s home, pointedly ignoring her irritated mumbling.

 

When they finally arrived and he found a place to leave the car, Goro forcibly assisted Sae to the apartment building’s front door.

 

“Will you please hand me your keys, Sae-san?” It was his third time asking since they’d arrived, and he received the same quietly seething look in return.

 

“I’m fine, Akechi-kun,” the lawyer bit out. “I feel much better already. I'm sure it was nothing.” Sae pushed herself away from him, staggering for a moment before righting herself and staring down at him through slightly glazed eyes. “Now take me back to work; we’re wasting time.”

 

Goro met her stare for a long moment before heaving a tired sigh. “Remember, Sae-san, you made me do this.” He pulled out his cell phone and—without breaking eye contact with the woman in front of him—called Makoto.

 

“Hello?”

 

Sae’s eyes widened, and she took a step forward to try and take the phone from the young detective. Her unstable movements were easily sidestepped.

 

“Hello Makoto-san,” Goro chimed, ducking another of Sae’s clumsy attempts to stop him. “I hope I'm not bothering you, but I have a bit of an emergency that I believe I need your assistance with.”

 

There was a brief suspicious pause on the other end, and he could all but see the look on the young woman’s face as she considered what he might mean. Then, tentatively, “It’s alright. I’m just studying at home. What is it?”

 

Quickly dancing just out of the lawyer’s reach and trying not to laugh she had to brace herself against a wall, Goro answered easily, “It’s Sae-san. She has a terrible cold and she absolutely refuses to cooperate with my efforts to get her home.”

 

“What? Where is she now? How bad is it?” Any of Makoto’s previous hesitations about Goro’s motives were gone; her sister clearly took precedence over most everything else.

 

“She’s right out front with me,” the detective replied, stepping in to steady his co-worker before shifting the phone out of her reach. “But she won’t let me use her keys to get in and won’t tell me which suite to buzz.”

 

Makoto sighed heavily on the other end, her tone coming through flat and unimpressed, though the undercurrent of concern hadn’t yet subsided. “I’ll be right down. Please just keep her there.”

 

Goro smiled his best celebrity smile as he tucked his phone away, bracing himself for the irritated and flustered slap that Sae threatened above him. However, the impact never came. Instead, the colour seemed to drain from Sae’s face and her legs seemed to collapse out from under her, forcing the detective to step in and catch her. Suddenly, making her exert herself in such a way didn’t seem like such a good idea.

 

“Sae-san?” He shook the lawyer gently as he managed to get her feet back underneath her. “Are you alright?”

 

“I-I’m _fine_ , Akechi-kun,” Sae scoffed in response. Her deathlike grip on his arms, however, said differently. “I just…I just need a moment.”

 

Before he could say anything further, the doors to the building were swept open and Makoto rushed to their side, tugging her older sister’s arm up and over her shoulder. “Come on, sis. Let’s get you inside…”

 

Sae softened almost immediately, though it seemed more out of embarrassment than gratitude. “Makoto…You…” Her voice wavered, another dizzy spell clearly imminent, but she continued regardless. “You really should be focusing on your studies…”

 

Goro looked to the younger of the two Niijimas and saw a moment of combined frustration, hurt, and resignation flash through Makoto’s eyes. Unlike her sister, Makoto didn’t have much of a poker face, and he couldn’t help but sympathize with her for a moment. It never felt good to be reduced to a single idea, a single entity with a single use.

 

“Here,” he offered, hand outstretched, “I’ll get the door for you.”

 

Makoto turned sharply, as if she’d forgotten Goro was even there, but relaxed when she realized he didn’t mean any harm. She shifted her weight to put the keys in his hand, giving him a brief rundown of which ones opened which doors.

 

Between the two of them, they managed to get Sae up to the Niijimas’ apartment without much hassle, though the only words exchanged the entire way were generally between the lawyer and one or the other of them, every time trying to convince them that she didn’t need to be treated like she was on death’s door. Neither conceded a single point, one relying on soft phrases of familial concern and support while the other leaned heavily on petty shots and passive aggression. Eventually, Makoto and Goro managed to wrestle Sae into her room, finding that, by that time, the lawyer only really had the strength to verbally resist them.

 

“Akechi-san…” Makoto looked at him from across her sister’s bed. “Could you…give us a moment please?”

 

“Of course.” Goro nodded and saw himself out, closing the door behind him. Once he was alone, he heaved a sigh and moved to sit on one of the very practical but comfortable couches. _A very Niijima piece of furniture to own_ , he thought briefly, before closing his eyes and taking the chance to breathe.

 

He could barely make out the sound of conversation from the other room, and while he was curious as to what the two were saying, he forced himself not to actively eavesdrop. It felt odd, being in an apartment where there were other people, where he could hear conversation happening that wasn’t necessarily about him and wouldn’t necessarily lead to his having to do something, whether he wanted to or not. It was different than when Ann or Haru came to visit and they had to take a call in another room, or when he went to LeBlanc and could hear Akira and Ryuji upstairs playing video games. This felt…somehow more intimate. Like he was spying on something he shouldn’t be. Like he was an intruder in a family home.

 

_Because that’s exactly what I am_.

 

Shaking his head, Goro pushed himself back onto his feet and glanced at the clock on the wall. If he left now, he could still make it back to the office with enough time to wrap up the paperwork he’d started that morning and to file the official request on Sae’s behalf for some days off. She undoubtedly had some sick days banked that he could rely on if nothing else.

 

And, he realized as he glanced back at Sae’s door, neither of the sisters probably wanted him hanging around anyway. He’d done his part, and this was their home. He had no place here.

 

As he straightened his jacket and stepped into his shoes, he heard the door behind him open and then softly close. “Oh, Akechi-san, are…are you leaving already?”

 

Turning to offer Makoto one of his more pleasant masks, Goro answered easily, “Well, I’ve done my job. The rest is really up to you now, isn’t it?”

 

The young woman flushed slightly in embarrassment, looking away from him as her hands curled at her sides. “I…I suppose it is…”

 

Goro didn’t have to be the detective he was to know there was much more left unsaid hanging in the air between them. He watched Makoto for a long moment, watched as her shoulders tensed and her fists tightened; she was angry with him, though for what he couldn’t be sure. She couldn’t possibly blame him for Sae’s misdirected comments, could she? Maybe it was the fact that he still hadn’t left, or that he hadn’t been polite enough to leave sooner. Whatever it was, his curiosity overrode his ingrained tendency to be ‘polite’.

 

“Was there something else, Makoto-san?”

 

That seemed to do it. The girl’s head snapped up and she crossed the room to stand close enough to—if she wanted to—grab him and toss him physically out the door. In her eyes was a mixture of anger and hurt, and he was genuinely surprised to see the latter.

 

“It’s not…fair.” The words came slowly, tensely, as if they were difficult for Makoto to form. She couldn’t hold his eyes for more than a moment, though she glanced back several times as if to assert that it was all directed at him. “You make it look so easy, so natural. And she talks to you like you're her…her… _peer_. But you’re no older than me. We go to the same cram school. We’re applying to the same universities. So why…Why does she still treat me like a kid?”

 

Goro stared for a moment, shocked by the quiet but desperate plea. He’d honestly never really put that much thought into how Sae-san treated him; at least, nothing beyond the analysis that she seemed to respect his opinions where others in the department still saw him as a child playing at detective. He’d never once stopped to ask ‘why’. He’d been taught not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

Taking his silence for an answer, Makoto shook her head and stepped back, biting her lower lip for a moment. “Never mind. It’s…It’s fine.” She bowed deeply, the movement stiff and forced. “Thank you for your help today.”

 

“Makoto-san…” Goro could feel tension in his own shoulders and a twisting in his gut that usually served as a warning for him to stop while he was ahead. “I don’t believe it’s a matter of Sae-san respecting me more than you. I think you’ve got it backwards.” His smile, fixed in place, began to feel bitter. “You’re her family, so she wants to make sure you’re doing your best and that your future is secured. I’m just her co-worker; she doesn’t have to worry herself over me, so she can relax her tone a little more. That’s all.”

 

The girl straightened up and met the detective’s eyes searchingly, as if hoping to find some hint of a lie or forced condolences. “You…really believe that, don’t you?”

 

Goro shrugged. “What else could it be?”

 

All of the earlier frustration was gone from Makoto’s eyes as she shook her head and gestured back into her apartment. “Akechi-san, most days, my sister is gone before I’m awake and comes home only a couple of hours before I go to bed. I rarely see her. And while I know that probably doesn’t mean much to you, you have to understand that that means she spends far more time around you than she does around me.” A faint tinge of colour in her face exposed Makoto’s embarrassment as she pressed on. “I’ve told you before, but I’m jealous of how much time you two spend together and how close you both are. Seeing the way she acted around you today…It really cemented that for me, as bad as it makes me feel.”

 

There was another weighted pause, punctuated by the wall clock’s soft ticking, but eventually Makoto continued. “Akechi-san…tell me the truth. Does my sister ever work with anyone else? If it’s her choice, that is.”

 

Goro paused and considered the question, thinking back on lunches and coffee breaks taken and spent bitterly complaining about the idiots both he and Sae were forced to work with on a regular basis. She complained about him sometimes, but always to his face, and usually about his attitude. He similarly complained to her about her behaviour, and occasionally took digs at how her work was taking a toll on her face. But he struggled to think of a time when she outright told him off or refused to work with him.

 

Makoto could clearly read the answer in his face. “And—please be honest—when you helped us with her Palace, was it really just so you could trap Akira? Or did you want to help my sister too?”

 

At this, Goro flinched. He tried not to think too hard about Sae’s Palace, about how he’d tried to play them all and, in turn, had been played himself. It should have been the beginning of the end for one of them, and yet both the Phantom Thieves and Goro Akechi lived on. It was the only bet he’d lost in that entire casino.

 

But it had all been part of the plan. Offer to help, lead them through, set them up, and then watch them fall. It could have been any Palace. That it was Sae’s was just convenient. Hell, in a way, it’d made things easier. That he’d found himself wanting to help her, to free her, to save her from the fate of the other Palace rulers he’d been made to ‘stop’ before…None of that had mattered, had it? His personal feelings had never factored into anything before, not outside of his ultimate goal. So he’d never bothered to think about them.

 

Until now.

 

“Sae-san,” he started slowly, the words coming before he could stop them, “deserved better than to be put through that. I understand that it was…” He swallowed around the bitter knot in his throat. “It was the people I was working for who put her in that position in the first place, who all but created her Palace, but she didn’t deserve what they would have done to her if you all hadn’t done something. If maybe all of you hadn’t been the focus of that mission…” He shook his head. “Sae-san works very hard, and just because the idiots around her don’t recognize that doesn’t mean that she deserves to be treated so poorly.”

 

Makoto smiled, the expression gentle and nearly sympathetic. “She feels the same way about you, Akechi-san. She complains about it over dinner sometimes.”

 

Laughing softly, she shook her head and gestured for Goro to come back into the apartment, an offer he took without really thinking. The two moved into the living room, sitting on the same couch but with nearly two feet between them.

 

“She worries about you, Akechi-san. She worries that you don’t eat enough, or sleep enough, or get enough time to study for your tests…” Makoto sighed, staring at her hands as they rested in her lap. “But she also knows that if she tries to fuss over you, you’ll just dismiss her outright, and maybe even start avoiding her. And she feels like seeing you is the only way she can tell if you’re alright or not.” She looked at him then, holding his eyes for a long moment. “It’s frustrating, sometimes, to hear her talk about you over dinner when all she can ever ask me about is how school is going, or how my friends are, or if I’d followed the recipe for dinner. I get jealous.”

 

It took Goro a moment to process what he’d been told, but when he had, he couldn’t help but laugh. And the laughter came all at once, eventually overwhelming him until he was leaned forward and holding his sides. Evidently, his laughter offended Makoto, as the girl huffed indignantly and grumbled something about her embarrassment not being nearly that amusing.

 

“N-No, Makoto-san,” the detective choked out, “I’m not…I’m not laughing at you.” He struggled to catch his breath, wiping a tear from his eye as he sat up to meet the girl’s frustrated stare. “Sae-san does the exact same thing at work about you. All the time. It’s almost insufferable some days.”

 

Staring at him in open disbelief, the faint touch of embarrassment darkened in Makoto’s cheeks and ears. “Wh-What? You’re lying.”

 

Goro shook his head, running a hand through his hair as he struggled to regain the last little bit of his composure. “I’m not. When she’s not complaining about her work or the people around her, she’s fretting about you. She asks me if you seem to be doing well in cram school and if I’d happened to see your latest test scores, or if I’d heard anything about you from any of the others. And she frequently complains if she thinks she’s going to be late for dinner; she hates the idea of worrying you.”

 

As he saw the look on Makoto’s face, the detective couldn’t help the honestly amused smile on his face. “But she tells me, every time, that she has no idea how to say any of this to you because she doesn’t want you to think you’re distracting her from work or that she’s fussing.” Goro could feel the beginnings of another laughing fit. “I-It seems we’re Sae-san’s sounding boards for one another.”

 

As Goro started laughing again, Makoto began as well. They laughed together for several minutes, sometimes pausing long enough to fuel their fits with more recounted exchanges. Before long, they were sitting closer together and sharing their favourite stories Sae had made them swear never to tell another living soul. And it felt good; it felt natural and comfortable. Goro wondered, briefly, if this was what it felt like to be a part of a family.

 

“You know, Akechi-san,” Makoto hummed during a lull in their sharing, “I realize now that it was silly of me to be jealous of you. You’re just another part of my sister’s life, and now I have the opportunity to have you as part of mine too.” She smiled at him, the warmth there genuine. “Like a brother I never wanted.”

 

Goro scoffed, but felt a slight heat building at the base of his neck and an unfamiliar fluttering in his stomach. “How kind of you, Makoto-san.”

 

“You can just call me Makoto if you’d like.” She refused to meet his eyes when he turned to look at her. “The same way you call Akira, Ann, Ryuji, and Haru by their first names. Without the honorifics.” Before he could respond, she held up a finger. “ _If_ , that is, you let me call you ‘Goro’.”

 

“That seems only fair.”

 

Makoto nodded solemnly, trying to hide the satisfied smile on her face. “Alright then, Goro. Now that we’re officially friends, we have to rock-paper-scissors over who tries to make my sister take her cold medicine.”


End file.
